Igman brass for 6.5x55 issues

Hey guys I seem to have some issues. I bought some once fired Igman boxer primed brass for reloading for my 6.5x55 Swed and found some things that concern me. First, it is boxer primed but the primer flash hole is way smaller, so you would have to modify a decap primer pin to fit properly. Secondly the size of the primer pocket is smaller. The standard boxer large rifle primer is .209 in diameter. The pocket in the Igman brass is .206, where as a Winchester primer hole is .209. I researched the brass and found it's used in many countries for a military round but failed to make a Nato spec because it was a bit to slow. Every where I try to research this issue, people say it's great brass and reloadable. Can somebody tell me how then ? Do I spend the time and drill out the flash hole and the primer pocket ?? Confused and need some quidence. :confused: :confused:

I've reloaded Igman 6.5x55 Swede with no problems.

I am super happy that you have no problem but unfortunatly I am. In all my research I hear that alot of people bitch about the primer holes being small and different sizes, which would without a doubt effect the primer flash. I tried many times with my hand primer and my press primer and they both won't seat the primer as the sizing is just enough for it to bind. I reload for many different calibers and have never run into this and I am asking for help. So, since you have no problem reloading, how do you seat your primers ? Mic the primer holes and see if you have the size issue that I have, who knows maybe yours are right on. With all the complaints out there, maybe I got a bad batch , I don't know.

I'll check. I bought a case of the loaded ammo probably six or seven years ago. I've reloaded the fired brass a couple of times. At one time I has a 6.5x55 AI which I fire formed the brass, then reloaded it. It was the same batch.

I measured the primer pockets of several brands of 6.5x55 brass.

PMC once fired .525 mm
Igman once fired .524 mm
Lapua once fired .526 mm
Lapua new without primer .525-.526 mm

My caliper may be a thousandth or two off. Also, the readings I got varied by .001 depending on where I held the caliper in the primer pocket.

Well, I measure a new Wichester primer pocket and it came in at 5.25 mm which is good and right on with yours. I went back to try to remeasure the Igman pocket and I couldn't get a consistant reading largely due to the primer still being inside. The first one that I took a measurement off of I drilled out the primer and pocket to see how the new primer would fit and it squezzed in real nice, but when I tried to use my hand installer or the press installer on the original pocket, there was no way those primers were going in. So, my first real issue is the real small primer flash hole! How do you punch your primers out? I tried several dies pins and none would fit the Igman brass ???? I think I am going to sacrifice one decapper pin and grind it down to fit and then retake a measurement on the pocket. This is so dumb??

I used a standard Lee resizer with decapper pin - no problem.

Wow. In the one primer that I drilled out, there is no chance in hell that any of my decapper pins would fit in that tiny hole. I must have some weird stuff here as some people are having no issues at all and there is now way I can punch out the primers unless I modify a pin, go figure. So, I am going to sacrifice one decapping pin and punch some primers and do more measuring and if I need to ream out the primer pockets, I guess I have no choice with this lot. Thank you for all the help, greatly appreciated !!

Well, here is a quick update for everyone. I lubed up a handful of Igman cases, and tried very carefully for a couple of minutes to FL resize and punch out the primer and to no surprise to me, the decap pin being way too big for the Igman small primer flash hole, the pin got stuck in the flash hole and broke ! I have yet to get the peace of pin out because it is really locked into the flash hole. When the pin broke it actually loosened the primer, so I removed it and measured the primer cup which came in at .515 as compared to the other measurements of .524 and .525, clearly a difference that I can't explain. So I am going to order a couple of decaper pins and grind one down to work to start processing this brass, and if I need to drill things out, I will be doing that. Confusing.

I bought a case of the 6.5x55 several years ago. The only identification marks I can find on the boxes is an "02 02" on the inside of one flap of each 20 round box. Perhaps you can complain to the distributor - ask for replacement brass.

I'd just stop using that brass. Obviously you have a problem with it. Without us actually seeing it, we're guessing.

UPDATE. Well, I finally received some spare decapper pins and did some measuring. The Lee universal decapper pin has a dia. of .061 and fits slightly loose in all the other calibers that I tried, but no chance in hell with this Igman stuff I have. I hand sanded and polished the decapping pin until it just slipped into the primer flash hole and it measured a very tight .054, and to fit the same as the standard boxer holes it was reduced to .051. I can see why it wouldn't work, no chance in hell. I have read on other boards where people were mentioning small flash holes, offset flash holes, exactly what I got. They must be a Friday production lot as other people have not had any problems, go figure. So with this lot of brass, I have decapped, drilled out primer flash hole to proper boxer size, uniformed primer hole, which was all over the place, and then deburred the inner part of the flash hole to remove any debris from the drilling process. Now they are good to go. Very strange, but that is what I found

I don't know the process for forming the primer pocket and flash hole when new brass is being made, but I wonder if your batch was made with an improper tool. Since it was once fired, Igman somehow was able to insert the primers. Is there a different caliber with a smaller primer pocket and/or flash hole?

Well, I bought the brass once fired, so I guess everything was ok at the factory, but with what I have read, I am not the only one who experienced this. All the other calibers I have all have the same size primer flash hole and large rifle primer pocket. When I was uniforming the primer pockets some were very easy to get the tool in some were very tight, some had only a very small amount of brass removed to clean up the pocket, some had a ton of material removed to clean it up.. This brass should not have left the factory unless they don't care about quality, but I would assume they do. Once I rework all of this brass I am sure everything will be ok, but what an adventure !

When I replied to this thread earlier, I had grabbed a couple of once fired Igman 6.5x55 brass that I had. I popped the primers out and measured the pockets.

Today I decided to reload some 6.5x55 rounds for a range trip. I grabbed a whole box of once fired Igman brass and began decapping them. The first two or three worked fine. Then, I ran into a couple that would not release, and actually lodged in the shell holder with the primers part way out. I managed to break them loose. Thinking that my decapping setting was incorrect. I tightened it up a bit so it would push the primers completely out. That worked with some coaxing and further adjustment. However, on the next round the decapping pin stuck in the case, and when I pulled up extra hard, it pulled out of the decapping die and remained in the primer hole. I had to Dremel the case to get the pin out.

That reminded me of this thread. I did a bunch of reloading several years ago with this Igman brass when I had a 6.5x55 AI. I never had a problem with decapping until now. The flash holes in the Igman are definitely smaller in my current batch of brass. I hate to throw the brass away, but I don't know an easy way to remove the primers so I can drill out the plash hole.

Any ideas?

Glad to have company, lol ! Do what I ended up doing and you save the brass. I first of all ordered two spare decapper pins(very cheap) and sanded one down very slowly till it fit loosely in the flash hole, then I reassembled the die and punched out and resized the brass. The next step I did was messure a normal boxer flash hole with small drill bits till I found the right size and I drilled out all the very small flash holes. I ran a Lyman primer uniformer tool in the primer pocket just to make sure the sizing was right. Some pockets were ok some were very tight. I think some batches were made when their punches were worn out, because the quality I noticed was terrible, yet some say they never had an issue, go figure. So, follow those steps and you get to use the brass. These forums are a blessing for issues like this !

Another thing I noticed about the Igman 6.5x55 brass was that there appears to be a circumferential crimp on the primer. Also, when I primed the decapped brass I would often find a quarter- moon shaped piece of brass in the primer holder that was sheared off the pocket.

You might try and find a 6.5x55 "hydraulic depriming" setup. Ive got one to deprime my Swiss Berdan primed brass I reload. Works like a champ! Once deprimed you could "modify the pocket to your needs.

OK, so there is a lot out there about this Igman brass. I have the answer in full. First, yes the flash hole was smaller and the primer pocket too, back then. How to fix. 1. sand down your decapper pin a decent amount, but still thick enough to be strong. 2. Decap. 3. Drill out the flash hole w/ a 0.078" drill bit. 4. Debur the inside of the case flash hole w / something like a flash hole deburing too. Next, 5. I used an RCBS military crimp tool. The one that grinds the brass away. Primers still did not fit after that process, so onto the Dillon super swagger they went. After all that, I saved the $0.75 piece of brass from going to the scrap yard. They shoot the same, velocities are the same and I felt it was worth it since the brass was given to me as an experiment. About 150 cases saved for the fight. Win.

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If any of you have this brass and don't want to go thu this process, I will gladly take it off your hands and pay postage.